However, critics say the big-ticket item comes at the expense of public transport.

Public Transport Users Association president Tony Morton says the East West link will not solve Melbourne's traffic woes, and the budget should have focused on badly needed rail upgrades, such as an airport link.

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"Instead, all the money is going into this East West Link, without any publicly available business case."

Victorian Greens Leader Greg Barber said there would be no new services for trams, V/Line and "bugger all" for buses and trains, and he predicted overcrowding would worsen.

However, the RACV motorists' organisation hailed the budget as a win for road users, with money for the link, $170 million for road and maintenance works, $400 million for rail-crossing removals and $50 million for better transport in Melbourne's west.

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews called the East West plan a con because the government could not show how it would fund it.

"Three hundred million dollars does not buy you an $8 billion road," he said.

He said the budget would not provide traffic relief for motorists in Melbourne's east for at least six to seven years, and Geelong and western Melbourne motorists would continue battling gridlock for more than a decade.

The budget also did little to bring the Melbourne Metro Rail tunnel closer to reality, with only $10 million allocated for planning, he said.